Tuesday, September 23, 2014

the ring

i remember as a little girl watching my mom as she went about
her daily activities.
i remember her hands---
i watched those hands very carefully.
i loved her white gold wedding band.
it was simple, not pretentious...it was beautiful
like her.

when i got engaged, my first reaction
was to get a gold wedding band
just like what mom had worn...
but, we had dated a long time and we weren't sure
when we were getting married
so i chose a wedding set-
i wanted an engagement ring! ;)

nine years after my husband and i were married
my dad lost his battle with cancer.
i watched my mom's hands
as she worked through her grief
and then one day...
her hand was empty.
she had taken the ring off
and stuck it away for safe keeping!

i am the oldest and the only daughter
and so i remember asking her if i could have the ring.
she immediately went into her bedroom and came out with it.
at first, i tried to wear it on my right ring finger
but, it brought back memories of my mom & dad
and so i chose to have it re-sized to fit my thumb
as a thumb ring.

i slipped that ring on my thumb
and wore it for almost twenty-five years!
i took it off for each of our daughter's weddings.
they each wore it as their something 'old'
or was it  their something 'borrowed' ;)
regardless, i took it off three times for three weddings.

years ago, i had told my oldest daughter that when all three girls
had gotten married and had the chance to wear the ring...
that i would give it to her.

this past august, while on a birthday shopping trip
with my daughter, i handed her a box.
inside was the ring!

i was happy to give it to her.
to pass it on to her, to give her something i knew she would treasure
but, my hand looked and felt empty!
i tried numerous rings on and tried to find something
that felt right.
and nothing quite fit my criteria.
i didn't want to just wear a ring,
i wanted it to mean something to me, just like my previous ring had.

and then...
and then one day i walked into the christian bookstore
there in the front by the checkstand, i spotted it.

a silver ring that had inscribed around it
my VERSE!

i claimed jeremiah 29:11 over ten years ago
when i got diagnosed with breast cancer
for the second time!

i clung to and claimed that verse.

that GOD promises me HOPE and a FUTURE!

so now my hand feels normal again.
i can now glance down and i am reminded
that He is always with me.
that He loves me and His promises never fail.

the left is me wearing my mom's ring this summer.
the right is my new ring. 






Photobucket

4 comments:

songbyrdonthemountain said...

LOVE!!! LOVE LOVE this!! for so many reasons. such a beautiful lovely gift from your mom to you to your daughter. (and you already know I have the same Jer 29.11 ring on MY thumb!!)

Thoughts for the day said...

very neat I wish I had something like that to treasure. grandma's ring was torn apart and redone by my mother and I have no idea where that went ... it is sad. I love sentimental treasures. I do have my grand mothers 'powder' puff music box.

Anonymous said...

This made me cry. ❤❤❤

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